A man has traveled four million miles around the globe on 2,000 flights, visiting every country in the world, and documenting his plane food meals as he goes.
James Asquith, 33, London, has been traveling for 15 years and takes to social media to review his different in-flight feasts.
James has been able to put his passion into his work, launching his own travel business Holiday Swap, where you can rent out your house or exchange the property for a period, which has saved him thousands on accommodation costs.
James explains: “I love airplane food, and by almost living on planes you get used to it.
“I have to say the Japanese meals and wagyu steaks on the Japanese airlines of ANA and Japan Airlines have been the best.
“The strangest meal I have had was a leaf with some sauce on. It was rather plain – I think that was on Sudan Airways.
“I won’t fly private because I don’t find it responsible, I actually prefer commercial – it reminds me of where I came from, and I simply love the buzz of people around me. I’m really serious about offsetting the carbon with this as well.
James’ traveling has changed from his younger years and he’s extremely proud of the fact he hasn’t had the trip paid for by sponsors via Instagram.
He continued: “When I first traveled when I was 18-24 years old, I was largely backpacking and living on a shoestring. Now, after working for quite a few years, things have changed for me in a really good way, but Holiday Swap is what was missing for me when I traveled.
“There was no such thing as sponsored posts or travel so I’m proud a lot of hard work paid off. I worked all sorts of jobs even as early as 12 years old and squirreled away every penny I could. I aimed to buy a house, but I guess that all changed at 18 when I discovered solo travel.
“I saved money before traveling and worked along the way to pay to travel on a shoestring, so I really immersed myself in the culture, the food and the people. That’s what always excited me. I had a decent-paying job in investment banking when I was 21 to pay everything off and continue with the journey.
“The travel bug is very real. I never thought I wanted to visit every country in the world.
“I have traveled for nearly 15 years now, and because of the experiences from my travels, I wanted to give back and share it with others at a more affordable prices, which is why I founded Holiday Swap.
The entrepreneur continued: “I made this business to allow people to exchange their homes, or even their rooms for a day, a week or a month, allowing people to be fully flexible if they’re renting for example, but want to travel for a bit of time.
“It’s the most affordable way to travel and saves 90 percent versus hotels, so I wish I had that when I was traveling.
“I actually seem to travel more now for work than when I was on a six-year journey to visit every country in the world, but now I seem to see the inside of planes and meeting rooms more than being an actual tourist, but I love what I do.”
“Reviewing the food was never something I thought I’d be able to experience so often, so like a kid I’m always quite excited looking at the food and drinks available on each flight.”
James still gets the same buzz jetting off on a new adventure, the feeling has never dwindled despite all his flights.
He adds: “Looking out the window, taking off or landing, it never gets old for me.
“My travels so far would potentially have cost around AU$257-342k [$164,000-219,000 USD], however thanks to Holiday Swap I think this would be possible for less than AU$170k [$109,000 USD] now, by saving accommodation costs.
“I also think it’s important to recognize a lot of companies are jumping on a bandwagon of ‘greenwashing’ with sustainability as well.
It’s important to research how offsetting emissions can be done right, but a lot aren’t doing this in the right way.
“I really thought I’d never pick up the travel bug, but it was genuinely the best education I’ve ever had.
“It was all about taking that risk and now I want people to go out there and do the same.”
